{My Decorated Dollar Store Notepad}

Hey, y'all!  I've been trying to adjust to the new school year, so I haven't been blogging as much as I'd like.  I do have a post to share with you today, though.  At the beginning of August, I had the pleasure of hanging out at See Vanessa Craft to help her out after the birth of her beautiful baby girl.  I shared this project.  (You can find the original post HERE.)  As a teacher, I love school supplies.  One place that has school supplies for a great price is the dollar store.  Unfortunately those supplies aren't always the cutest, and being the "girly girl" I am, I really need my school supplies to be cute.  Luckily with a little bit of creativity, you can easily make dollar store school supplies look like their more expensive counterparts.

One easy dollar store school supply you can makeover is a notepad.  You need a few simple items for the makeover:

• Dollar store notepad
• Scrapbook paper
• Mod Podge
• Washi Tape
• Embellishments (optional)
• Mod Podge 
• Scissors
• Paint brush or foam brush
• Wax paper

To begin, cut a piece of scrapbook paper the size of your notepad cover.

Place a piece of wax paper between the cover of the notepad and the paper inside to protect them.  Use your brush to apply a thin layer of Mod Podge on your notepad cover.  Stick your paper to the cover and smooth out any air bubbles.  To keep the Mod Podge from making the cover curl up while drying, put a heavy book on top of it.

Next it's time to add washi tape.  You can add as much washi tape as you would like in any pattern you would like.  I added a few stripes at the bottom of my notepad cover and one stripe at the top.

And because I love bling--especially pink bling--I added an adhesive strip of pink rhinestones in the middle of my green washi stripe as my notepad's finishing touch.

No one will know that your fabulous new notepad actually came from the dollar store!

And to take it one step further, you can decorate a pencil with the same washi tape to create a coordinating set.  Make a notebook and pencil set with your child to get him or her excited about school starting, or make a set as a gift for your child's teacher. And, of course, you can always just make a set for yourself!  :)